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GPS systems and maps
GPS systems work without any trouble in Costa Rica, and can be a valuable aid for getting around the country. Garmin offers navigation sets which have good data on the major streets all over the country. Other manufacturers might also have maps available, with varying levels of detail. SATEC is a store that distributes Garmin, and should be able to help you with map data. The most commonly seen GPS systems in vehicles here are distributed by a company called Navsat . They are about $200, and offer real-time data on road conditions. Many rental cars have the option of one of these GPS systems available when you rent. Waze social GPS also works in Costa Rica, the disadvantage being that you have to be online in order to receive traffic updates and map data. If you're using a prepaid cellular phone line, remember you may be charged by the minute or kilobyte and using applications such as Waze may incur significant charges. If you want to use Waze on your prepaid cellular phone line, you might want to opt for daily Internet service packages (see cellular phones for more information) in order to get the most out of your cellular minutes. GPS satellites are visible throughout the country, you can normally get 4 to 5 meters precision with most GPS units. Altitude via GPS tends to have problems, as it does in most places, and you can be off on the altitude by as much as 50 meters, depending on your location. Printed maps Detailed maps of the entire country in 1:10000 and 1:50000 scale can be obtained through the National Geographical Institute (IGN),located in downtown San Jose . They are normally open Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 3 PM, and have most of the country mapped. They also have a large collection of aerial photographs of the entire territory, should you need them. Maps are about 1000 colones ($2), how many you'll need depends on what area you want to have and the scale. For example the central area of San Jose is a single map (named "Abra") in 1:50.000 scale, and four maps in 1:10.000 scale. The IGN also maintains a system of reference points. These are normally metal plates that are stuck to bridges, sidewalks or other unmovable objects, and have the IGN logo and a reference number on them. With the reference number, you can go to the IGN and obtain their exact latitude, longitude and altitude. They're mostly used for surveying purposes, but they're also a good way to check calibration on your GPS or altimeters. Phone number for the IGN is 2523-2619 or 2523-2620. The IGN publishes official maps which have full detail including street numbers, major reference points, and some topographical data. Other publishers also make maps with a little less detail and more oriented towards tourism. You can find these other maps at bookstores and hotels. You can also find some pretty good maps online at the National University's geography site . Mapasdecostarica is another place that has the IGN maps online, the only problem being they're missing a lot of the coordinate and footer information. Local coordinate systems The local official coordinate grid is known as Costa Rica traverse Mercator (CRTM05). This system is identical to Universal Traverse Mercator (UTM), the only thing that changes are the reference points, and coordinates given in UTM will not match up with coordinates in CRTM. The official maps distributed by the IGN use CRTM coordinates and also generally have a latitude and longitude marker in degrees that you can use to reference them with a GPS unit. On some older maps printed by the IGN and other official sources you can find a coordinate system called "Costa Rica Lambert", abbreviated CRLN and CRLS (depending on where you are in the country you're going to need to use the "North" coordinate system or the "South" coordinates system, which is indicated by the last letter). CRLN and CRLS are based on the Lambert Conformal Conical projection, and became obsolete in 2005 when CRTM was put into operation. You can find more information on the CRTM coordinate system at the IGN. There's also a good guide online published here . CRTM-05 base parameters (for GPS or GIS systems): *Ellipsoid: WGS-84 *Reference meridian: 84 deg W *Reference parallel: 0 deg *Scale factor at central meridian: 0.9999 / -100 ppm *False easting: 500000 m *False northing: 0 m CRLN (Lambert north) base parameters: *Ellipsoid: Clarke, 1866 *Central parallel: 10 deg, 28 min. N *Central meridian:84 deg, 20 min W. *Scale factor: 0.99995696 *Normal parallels: 9 deg, 56 min N. / 11 deg, 0 min N. *False Easting: 500000 m *False Northing: 271820.522 m CRLS (Lambert south) base parameters: *Ellipsoid: Clarke, 1866 *Central parallel: 9 deg, 0 min. N *Central meridian:83 deg, 40 min W. *Scale factor: 0.99995696 *Normal parallels: 8 deg, 28 min N. / 9 deg, 32 min N. *False Easting: 500000 m *False Northing: 327987.436 m Google Maps and Google Earth Google maps and Google Earth have very good detail level throughout most of the major metropolitan areas, and a level of detail roughly equivalent to 1:50000 scale on the rest of the country. Category:Getting around Category:Everyday life